In the End
by KellyKatt19
Summary: Momoi Satsuki has been in love with Kuroko Tetsuya for a long time. And although she tried desperately to deny it, so has her best friend, Aomine Daiki (who didn't even realize it himself, the idiot). When Dai-chan does finally realize, and confesses to her, Satsuki has no idea of the events that that conversation will bring. AU, Het/Yaoi, OT3, eventual AoKuroMomo.
1. Chapter 1: Confessions

**AN: So here I am, uploading another story when I haven't even updated any of my others in months. And jumping fandoms, no less! :L. Still, I really am sorry to anybody who has been waiting for my Naruto fics. I write all my stories on a locknote app on my iPod, and the stupid thing fucked out, without me having any copies of my in-progress fics. They're not cancelled or anything, but it might be a while longer until I can get my screen replaced and access them. In the meantime, I brought myself an iPhone, and downloaded the same locknote apps on that :L #lessonnotlearnt. So while my old fics are on hold for a little bit, I've started writing new ones.**

 **Hope you enjoy :).**

* * *

"Satsuki?"

"Hmm? What is it, Dai-chan?"

Momoi Satsuki looked up from where she was seated at her desk, trying to do her homework, to where her best friend had been lounging on her bed, leafing through one of her seinen manga. Now, however, he was sitting up, dark blue eyes trained directly on her. She felt her heart sink.

She had a feeling she knew what was coming.

Dai-chan opened his mouth, looking as grave as he ever had, but then closed it again without uttering a peep. Satsuki just spun around in her wheelie chair to face him properly. No matter how long it took, Dai-chan would eventually get what he wanted to say out. She knew this from experience; Dai-chan had had serious issues talking about serious problems (AKA his emotions and most things unrelated to basketball) for as long as she had known him. Satsuki could wait him out.

"I, uh, there's something I gotta tell you, Satsuki." Dai-chan's mouth was pulling down at the corners.

A confession.

Her heart twisted in her chest. She didn't want to know, didn't want the thoughts that had plagued her since middle school confirmed.

But Dai-chan was her best friend. And he was trying to open up to her, his most trusted confidante. She couldn't deny him that, couldn't ignore his words, no matter how much she longed to.

Satsuki took a deep breath, remembering all the ways that Dai-chan had looked out for her and made her laugh over the years. She raised her head, bright pink eyes meeting midnight blue, and smiled. "Tell me, Dai-chan."

He grimaced apologetically, handsome features twisted in some form of regret, confusion, and self-recrimination. "I think I'm in love with Tetsu." He sounded absolutely miserable about it.

Worst fears confirmed, Satsuki fancied that she could actually hear the sharp _crack_ of her heart breaking. Her eyes lowered to her hands, twisting in her lap, as she sobbed out a broken chuckle.

"Silly Dai-chan," she murmured, almost to herself. "I already knew."

* * *

 **AN: Sooo, lemme know what you thought! Chapters will get longer, don't worry, this is sorta just an opening. I have a general plotline worked out already, and the second chapter is in progress, so hopefully it won't be ages before I upload it! On another note, I have never seen this ship ANYWHERE, no fan art, no fanfics, no nothing. And since it's become an OT3 of mine, I decided to write one myself. If anybody else has seen otherwise, please tell me!**

 **\- Kelly**


	2. Chapter 2: Revelations

**AN: Thank you very much to all you who faved/followed/reviewed!**

* * *

"Silly Dai-chan," Daiki had to lean forward to hear Satsuki's whispered words. "I already knew."

He reared back in surprise, almost toppling off the edge of Satsuki's bed in the process. He managed to catch himself just in time, clutching at the pristine white bedspread, mouth gaping as he stared into Satsuki's concerned face. "Huh?"

"I already knew," Satsuki repeated as she moved to wit with him on the bed. They both leaned back against the plain dark headboard, legs stretched out and only a foot of space between them. "I've always known. Dai-chan has been in love with Tetsu-kun almost as long as I have."

That was definitely news to Daiki.

"Wha-?! But you've loved him ever since Teikō! And I've only just figured out that I have feelings for him recently-" a dark flush spread across Daiki's cheeks. "So how can you say that you've always known, when I didn't even know!" Because while Tetsu had definitely always had a special place in Daiki's heart, it had only been because he was one of the few people that Daiki could really call a friend (not to mention their unique bond as light and shadow). The other Miracles only became friends after Tetsu had joined the team.

Satsuki's pink eyes were pinned on him. "Because I know everything, Dai-chan." Well, he couldn't deny that. "And you may have only just realized it, but that doesn't mean the feelings haven't been there all along."

"Wouldn't I know if I had fallen in love with someone?" Daiki pointed out.

"No. Because Dai-chan is an idiot."

Daiki scowled. The way she said that so certainly pissed him off. But still… "Why didn't you tell me, then?"

She flinched, and Daiki instantly felt like shit. How could he expect her to, when she was in love with Tetsu as well? They had only been middle schoolers at the time, and then… shit had happened.

"I'm sorry, Satsuki, I didn't mean that." Daiki awkwardly shuffled over so that their sides were pressed together. Apologizing still felt weird to him, he hadn't done it for so long. And he hadn't been an apologetic person in the first place. But for Satsuki, he could say it.

She lifted her face to him, and it was Daiki's turn to flinch. Aw jeez. Tears were pooling in her eyes, and he couldn't have felt worse. He had made Satsuki cry many a time in their lives, especially over the past two years, and admittedly hadn't felt very guilty about it at all. However, after the Winter Cup, when he had a chance to really examine all that he'd done, Daiki had secretly promised himself that he would never make Satsuki cry again. It was the least he could do for the girl who had stayed with him through everything.

"C'mon, Satsuki, don't cry," Daiki said, wrapping an arm around her small shoulders. "I really didn't mean it."

She pressed closer to him, shifting so that she was tucked up into his side. "I know you didn't, Dai-chan. That's not why I'm crying." Satsuki's words were muffled slightly by his body, but he managed to catch them just fine.

"Eh? Why're you crying, then?" He questioned confusedly.

"Because, because! Because _I'm_ sorry, Dai-chan!" Satsuki buried her face in his chest, tears seeping through his t-shirt onto his skin.

Out of all the things Daiki had expected to come out of her mouth, that hadn't been one of them. What did she have to be sorry about? He was the one who had gone and fallen in love with the guy his best friend was already in love with.

"What are you talking about, Satsuki?" He eyeballed her candy-floss colored head skeptically.

"Dai-chan!" The tearful girl straightened up indignantly. "You just said it yourself, I should have told you!" She furiously wiped the tears out of her eyes, meeting his gaze head on. "It was selfish of me, but I didn't want Dai-chan to realize his feelings. He's the sort of idiot who would confess without even thinking about it, and, and-" Satsuki snapped her mouth shut, turning her head in the opposite direction to Daiki.

He heaved out an aggravated breath. Having a female best friend could be so exhausting. "C'mon, Satsuki, just hurry up and tell me already. Promise I won't be mad."

"I know you won't be," Satsuki murmured quietly. "I'm just too ashamed to say it out loud." She continued to face away from him, but Daiki could hear the quiver in her voice.

She was crying again.

Panicking slightly, Daiki used the arm slung across her shoulders to forcefully tug her further into him, so that she was leaning back against his side. Embarrassed, he dropped his face into her soft, sweet smelling hair to hide his blush, despite knowing that he'd purposefully made it so that she couldn't see him. "Tell me, Satsuki," he said softly. "Tell me."

Daiki felt the breath that she slowly let out, her body losing all the tension and settling in against him properly. Cheeks still burning, Daiki left his face where it was, pressed against the top of Satsuki's head. This was so embarrassing.

"I was afraid."

"Huh?" Satsuki's soft words took Daiki completely by surprise (again).

"I was afraid!" The older girl burst out, shuddering under Daiki's arm. "You and Tetsu-kun used to be so close, Dai-chan. If you had realized your feelings and confessed to him, I thought that maybe Tetsu-kun would accept you. It was very selfish of me, but I didn't know what to do." Satsuki paused, as if waiting for Daiki to condemn her; he had nothing to say. He didn't know how to reply, didn't even know what he was feeling.

So she continued. "Dai-chan has always been my best friend, even though he's an annoying, perverted, ganguro, basketball idiot-" Daiki twitched, quickly jabbing his pointer and middle fingers into Satsuki's side in retaliation for the insults. She squealed, attempting to scramble away, only to be held in place by Daiki's formerly-comforting-but-now-restraining arm across her shoulders. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry, Dai-chan!" Satsuki cried out, giggling helplessly. Daiki grinned triumphantly.

 _Who's an idiot now?_

Having successfully lightened the mood some, Daiki rapped his knuckles lightly on the side of Satsuki's head. "I'm still not mad you, y'know."

She let out one final giggle, reaching up and moving his arm away from its place across her shoulders/the top of her chest. She instead hugged it to her, intertwining their fingers. Daiki just tried not to focus too hard on the feel of Satsuki's boobs pressed against his arm. In love with a boy he may have been, but he was still a predominantly straight teenage boy.

"I knew you wouldn't be, Dai-chan." Satsuki informed him. "But it was still terrible of me, because I was so relieved that you were too much of an idiot to figure it out, and so I wouldn't lose you or Tetsu-kun to each other."

"Haaahh? Me? Why would you think that?" Daiki was honestly confused. It was one thing to not want the boy you liked to date anybody else; he understood that much, and he couldn't blame Satsuki for feeling that way. But losing _him?_ To _Tetsu?_ That just didn't make sense.

Satsuki squeezed his trapped hand between both of hers – inadvertently pressing his arm closer to her chest, which Daiki attempted to ignore. "I just _said,_ Dai-chan," she stated exasperatedly. "You're my best friend. You've always been my best friend. I don't know what I would have done if you had stopped paying attention to me."

Oh.

 _Oh._

Well.

That was embarrassingly straight-forward. Daiki wasn't quite sure how to reply to that. He tried to imagine how he would have felt if Satsuki and Tetsu had ever started dating; his two best friends, with a special bond that he wouldn't have been a part of, and going on dates that didn't include him. He felt sick.

He would have been so lonely. Lonely and left out. Even though Daiki was pretty sure that none of the three of them were the type to enter a relationship and forget about everybody else, he still would have felt like that. Was this what Satsuki had been dealing with, the fear of being left behind by two of her dearest friends?

A rare surge of sympathy passed through him. Satsuki may have thought it was selfish, but Daiki knew selfishness very well. He was basically the definition after all.

"Don't worry about it anymore, Satsuki," Daiki ended up telling her. "It's probably better like this anyway. Everything would have just been even more fucked up if I had confessed back then or whatever."

She jabbed an elbow back into his ribs. "Language, Dai-chan!" She scolded him. "But, if you're really sure…?"

Daiki sighed aggrievedly. He was so over this conversation; he wanted to go play some basketball and clear his head. "I'm really sure, Satsuki. Don't apologise anymore, don't feel bad about it, and for God's sake, don't _cry_."

Satsuki giggled and cuddled his arm closer. "You're really the best, Dai-chan."

Yeah – the best at pretending that his oldest friend's boobs weren't affecting him in any way, shape, or form.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Daiki waved his free hand nonchalantly, absurdly glad that Satsuki couldn't see his face. "Just let me go already, I wanna go down to the street court."

Satsuki, who apparently knew Daiki better than he knew himself, released his arm and stood, smiling understandingly. "Okay, Dai-chan. I think I'm going to call Ki-chan to come shopping with me, so I'll talk to you later, alright?"

Absently wondering when Kise and Satsuki had become shopping buddies, Daiki nodded. Satsuki seemed to hesitate, before she slowly leaned forward and pressed her lips to his temple.

"I will always love you, Aomine Daiki. So follow your heart, and don't _ever_ forget that."

The next second, she was gone, leaving Daiki with an inexplicable ache in his chest, and feeling more confused than he ever had in his life.

* * *

 **AN: I honestly meant to get this out _way_ earlier, but I got distracted by other fics and bingeing on anime, so my apologies. I know it's still short, but it's longer than the first one, and the chapters _will_ continue to get longer :). Lemme know what you thought!**

 **\- Kelly**


	3. Chapter 3: Sacrifices

**AN: I am a slow updater :/ apologies always, but hope you like it anyway!**

* * *

"Not that I don't like spending time with you, Momocchi, but why did you call me out here? We haven't hung out like this since Teikō." Ki-chan's large golden eyes were peering at her inquisitively.

Satsuki had to smile. Ki-chan could be very observant sometimes; nowhere near the level of Akashi-kun, or even Tetsu-kun or herself, but observant all the same. He had always been the one that she talked to about emotional things (because before today, Dai-chan certainly hadn't been an option), and especially about her situation with Dai-chan and Tetsu-kun. Her girlfriends, lovely and supportive as they would have been, wouldn't have understood, not really.

But Ki-chan did.

She let out a deep breath, eyes darting down to peer into her cup of hot chocolate. The café they had stopped for lunch in was small and cozy, and bustling with customers. Even if anybody was paying the two teenagers any attention, it would look like they were on a date (which amused Satsuki greatly). But the point was, nobody was listening to, or could even hear, the sixteen year old girl trying not to cry as she retold the morning's tale.

"Dai-chan's finally realized," Satsuki said softly, smiling somewhat sadly into Ki-chan's concerned face. "He told me this morning."

"What?" Ki-chan was staring at her, aghast. "Aominecchi actually told you that he's in love with Kurokocchi?"

Satsuki nodded. "We had a talk."

"Wow, Momocchi! I didn't think Aominecchi would ever admit it, if he ever even noticed!" Ki-chan frowned. "Is he going to confess to Kurokocchi?"

Her heart skipped a beat. "I'm not sure," Satsuki admitted. "I- I told him I wouldn't mind if he did." Well, not in so many words, but that was the gist of it. Hopefully Dai-chan understood, because Satsuki wasn't entirely sure that she could say it directly.

It _hurt_.

Ki-chan's eyes grew sad, and he reached across the table to grasp Satsuki's hands in both of his. "Poor Momocchi. I hope Aominecchi knows how lucky he is to have such a wonderful best friend."

Fixing her rosy gaze on her trembling hands, cradled in Ki-chan's, Satsuki hitched a smile to her face. "D-Dai-chan loves me. He never says it," and possibly never would. "But I know he does. That's why he told me first, instead of going straight to Tetsu-kun." Satsuki's voice broke.

"I guess Aominecchi's a pretty good friend himself, huh?" Ki-chan mused.

Satsuki nodded, her smile faltering a little. "That's thanks to Tetsu-kun, I think. Dai-chan and I have always been best friends, but he's never really shown it much. Now that Tetsu-kun's showed him that he's not alone, Dai-chan is much more aware of things than he was before."

It was amazing; Dai-chan hadn't changed, not really. It was more like he was more open with himself, was allowing the world to see the Dai-chan who had always been there, under the misery, and the hurt, and the anger. If she hadn't been in love with him already, Satsuki would have fallen for Tetsu-kun just for being the one to cause that.

A tear escaped her eye, rolling down her cheek when she blinked in surprise.

"Eh?" Satsuki raised one hand to her face, not quite comprehending the wetness that she felt there. "I'm… crying?"

So absorbed was she in the fact that she was shedding tears once again, that Satsuki didn't even notice her table-mate getting up to come and kneel at her side. It was only when warm hands were cupping her face, thumbs brushing away the water under her eyes, did she realize what Ki-chan was doing. The sweetness of the moment was too much for her; Satsuki pulled Ki-chan to his feet as she stood, forcefully holding back the impeding breakdown.

She threw some money down on the table and hastened to get out of the café before she could make a spectacle of herself falling apart in Ki-chan's arms. The poor boy yelped in surprise, but managed to recover himself gracefully and allowed Satsuki to drag him down the street. She wasn't entirely sure where she was going, but as long as there were no people around to witness her heartbreak, Satsuki didn't particularly care.

Somehow though, she wasn't surprised when the two of them ended up on an empty street-ball court.

"Momocchi?" Ki-chan stooped down a little to peer into Satsuki's eyes, his own golden irises pools of sympathetic concern.

Crouching down and feeling distantly glad that she'd worn jeans, Satsuki finally let the tears fall. "It, h-hurts, Ki-chan," she hiccupped, resisting the urge to curl into a ball. "My heart hurts."

That was the understatement of the century. Now that she was finally allowing herself to feel all that she'd been trying to hold back, Satsuki couldn't even put into words just how painful it was. Her heart didn't feel broken, no, it was far worse than that. It felt…

Empty.

Even as the stupid thing writhed and twisted in her chest, on the inside, she felt hollow.

"Oh, Momocchi," Ki-chan also crouched, wrapping his arms around her and shifting so that they were both sitting on the ground, Satsuki in between his legs and crying into his chest. "I'm so sorry."

Satsuki was sorry too. She couldn't bring herself to regret anything about this situation; loving Tetsu-kun and Dai-chan were two of the best things she'd ever done, despite the current heartbreak. But she was desperately sorry about her part in creating this big, emotional mess.

Through her heaving sobs, Satsuki morbidly wondered if _(when)_ Tetsu-kun would accept Dai-chan's feelings, the way he had never accepted hers.

* * *

Kise Ryouta wondered if hearts could feel sympathy pains. His own chest felt way too tight, and his heart was cracking a little more with each sob that his pink haired friend let out.

Momocchi was such a lovely girl; bright, cheerful and clever, she was by far the best female friend that Ryouta had ever had (helped along by the fact that they both held an endless adoration for the Kiseki no Sedai's phantom player, albeit in different ways). So while Ryouta was glad that he could be here for her while she cried herself sick in heartbreak, he badly wished that he could do something else to actually make her feel better.

Unfortunately, there were no quick fixes for this situation; there was nothing easy about it at all. While Ryouta thought that Kurokocchi was extremely lucky to have the love of two such amazing people (although Ryouta completely understood how it had happened), he also didn't envy his old mentor. What was Kurokocchi supposed to do, when confronted with the fact that a lifelong friendship might be splintering, with him as the root cause?

No, Ryouta thought as he ran a gentle hand over Momocchi's candy floss mane, he didn't envy any of his poor friends. He could only do his best to be there for all three of them, should they need him.

* * *

 **AN: Sorry for the excessive amount of nicknames in this chapter haha. Both Momoi and Kise are the ones - along with Murasakibara - are the ones who have nicknames for everybody, and they're the type to use those nicknames all the time, not just when they're face-to-face with that person :L. Let me know what you thought!**

 **\- Kelly**


	4. Chapter 4: Decisions

The day after Daiki confessed his feelings to Satsuki (and didn't that sound misleading), he still had no idea what he was going to do. He was sixty-seven percent sure that Satsuki had given him her permission to confess to Tetsu – but that still left him thirty-three percent unsure.

And that, to Daiki, was an unacceptable risk.

Although, to be completely honest, he wasn't really certain whether he would have confessed to Tetsu even if Satsuki had told him straight out that she didn't mind. For one thing, Tetsu might not even accept Daiki's confession. The thought of having Tetsu reject him made Daiki want to be sick; at least this way, his feelings were only _probably_ unrequited, instead of _definitely_.

But – what if they weren't? Daiki's treacherous heart leaped at the thought. Tetsu, the little shit, would probably remain stoically silent throughout Daiki's confession (only adding to his nerves) and then be completely casual about accepting it with a kiss on the cheek or something.

Touou's ace couldn't contain the foolish grin that spread over his face – at least until he realised what an absolute _girl_ he was being. Red flared violently in his cheeks and Daiki slapped himself mentally. For fucks sake, how could he have missed the fact that he had a fucking crush on fucking Tetsu? No wonder Satsuki had figured it out long before he did.

The thought of Satsuki was enough to rid himself of the blush. Daiki really, _really_ , did not want to hurt the girl any more than he already had. She was his best friend, his first ever friend from childhood. He didn't want to lose her.

Why the fuck did this all have to be so complicated? It was annoying as shit.

* * *

Hours later, the ringing of his phone woke Daiki from a particularly pleasant dream involving shirtless Tetsu, and he was not happy. Without even checking the caller ID, he answered the call, his gruff _"What the hell do you want?!"_ coming out as a sleep-rasped growl.

"So mean, Aominecchi!"

Kise.

Rolling his eyes, Daiki rolled onto his back and yawned. "Answer the question, idiot."

"Uwahh, I just wanted to see if you were doing okay, but I've changed my mind now!" Kise sniffled dramatically, his overly-wounded expression as clear in Daiki's mind as if they were speaking face-to-face. He snickered. "I'm fine, Kise. What's wrong with _you_ , calling me during my nap?"

The conversation went on in that teasing vein for a while and Daiki had completely forgotten about Kise's original reason for calling by the time the subject came up again. "I was being serious before, Aominecchi," Kise said earnestly. "I wanted to check and make sure you were alright."

"Hah?" Daiki frowned in confusion. "What are you even talking about Kise, why would I not be alright?"

Aside from the obvious, but why would Kise know about that?

"Because you've finally figure out that you're in love with Kurokocchi, of course!"

Kise knew about it. _Why_ did Kise know about it?

Daiki _swore_ he could hear Kise's eyes rolling. "I've always known, Aominecchi. Do you think anybody could love Kurokocchi as much as I do, and _not_ notice anybody else who loves him just as much?"

That… actually made sense, even as it made Daiki want to smash his head through a wall. _How many fucking people knew before he did?_

And then the rest of Kise's sentence caught up with him. "Oi, Kise. Tell me you're not in love with Tetsu too, fuck." That would just be fuckin' perfect.

Luckily, Kise laughed. "Don't worry, Aominecchi, it's not like that. I just love him."

Daiki didn't see a particular difference, but whatever. Kise wasn't a liar; he was just a dramatic idiot. It was one less thing to worry about anyway, and right now, that was all he cared about. Then he remembered something.

"Is that why Satsuki called you yesterday?" He demanded, frown growing deeper. "Did she know that you knew?"

Kise hummed. "Yup. Poor Momocchi has been worrying about this for a long time, you know?"

Regret gripped Daiki's heart like a vice. Sometimes, when he allowed himself to just _feel_ what he felt for Tetsu, it was so good, so _right_ , that he almost drowned in the warmth of it. His old shadow brought out all the soft parts of him that he usually preferred to pretend he didn't have, even while simultaneously pushing Daiki to do better, to _be_ better. But other times… other times, Daiki's love for Tetsu warred so intensely with his love for Satsuki, that it made him want to rip his heart out of his damn chest just so he wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.

"You don't need to rub it in, bastard." Was all he said to Kise, however.

A gasp. "Uwahh, I'm sorry, Aominecchi! I didn't mean to make you feel bad!"

Ugh. For such an annoying guy, Kise could be pretty damn heartfelt when he wanted to. Heaving himself to his feet, Daiki attempted to find his shoes in the mess that he called a bedroom. "That's it, I can't do this. If we're gonna talk about this shit, we're gonna do it while I waste your ass on the court."

* * *

Panting harshly, Ryouta moped a little to himself. Even half-distracted as he was, Aominecchi was a monster on the court. It was their first one-on-one since the Winter Cup, and the power forward had come at Ryouta with a vengeance. He took great pride in the fact that his copying abilities had given one of his most admired people such fire.

Ryouta straightened up from his bent over, hands on knees position, and eyed his friend's infinitely more relaxed expression with satisfaction. Aominecchi had showed up with what looked like the weight of the world on his shoulders; Ryouta had done what he could to relieve him of that weight.

"What's that look for?" Aominecchi demanded, digging a finger in his ear.

"Mou, Aominecchi, that's so rude! This is just my face!"

A basketball aimed at said face was his only response. Huffing petulantly even as he caught it, Ryouta wondered if they were going to talk about the real issue now. Aominecchi _had_ said that they would, over the phone. Would his friend punch him if he tried to bring it up?

Just as Ryouta was about to start worrying himself in circles, Aominecchi took it out of his hands. Throwing himself down on the courtside bench, he met Ryouta's eyes with something like resignation. "Come on then, nosy bastard. What exactly did you want to talk about?"

"It's _not_ nosiness!" Ryouta insisted. "I am _concerned_." It was doing bad things to his heart, this situation. His manager was going to kill him if he gave in to his stress-eating impulses.

Aominecchi snorted. "Well then, what are you so _concerned_ about?"

"Everything!" Ryouta threw his hands up in the air. "I'm worried about you, I'm worried about Momocchi, I'm worried about Kurokocchi; I just want to _help_ , Aominecchi, but I don't think I can." Tears started welling up, and he hastily wiped them away. This wasn't about him.

Of course, Aominecchi couldn't let it go without comment. "Aw, come on, Kise. Don't cry over this, it'll just make me feel worse."

As if. "Aominecchi, you liar. You don't care about my feelings at all."

The grin that flashed across his friend's face made Ryouta feel a lot better. Nothing was solved, but if he could keep making his friends smile while they worked out their feelings, then that would be good enough for him.

"Yeah, you're right," Aominecchi replied airily. "But your crying face is really ugly, Kise, and I don't need to see that at the moment."

Ryouta sniffed haughtily. "I don't want to hear that from _you_ , Aominecchi. Your crying face is hideous, don't think I've forgotten."

"Oi!" Touou's ace squawked in offense. "I thought you were here to cheer me up, not insult me, you bastard!"

Even the smug grin that settled on his face couldn't make Ryouta any less attractive (this he knew for sure; it was a very popular look with his fans). "Always doubting me. Can't you even tell that I've done both?" He shook his head mockingly.

Aominecchi opened his mouth. Closed it again. Cocked his head. Ryouta couldn't help laughing at the face he made then; he looked so stupidly surprised, that it was hard not to. "Alright, alright, enough of that shit." Aominecchi slumped even lower on his bench, waving a lethargic hand in Ryouta's direction. "Do you actually have anything to say or what?"

For once taking a moment to think very carefully about what he was going to say, Ryouta honestly felt a little honoured, and proud. The old Aomine Daiki would never have cared about Ryouta's input, or been so free in showing up torn up this situation was making him feel. All it would have done was feed his anger with the world, and probably eventually damaged his friendships with both Kurokocchi and Momocchi even worse than they had been. All of them had really come a long way.

Slowly piecing his thoughts together, Ryouta let out a deep breath. "You know Aominecchi, Kurokocchi really loves you a lot. You and Momocchi both. I've never heard him say anything about romance, or a crush, but I do know that no matter what happens, he won't stop being friends with either of you." That was one-hundred per-cent fact. Nothing on Earth would cause Kuroko Tetsuya to abandon his friends. "If he doesn't feel the same, or even if he does feel that way about one of you, Kurokocchi will do his best to not hurt anybody." Golden eyes met midnight, as Ryouta willed his friend to understand how strongly he believed those words.

It must have worked, because something loosened in Aominecchi's shoulders. He shook his head, mouth twisted in mock disgust. "Tch. Getting advice from Kise, of all people…" He stood up, stretching his long limbs out languidly. "Thanks for the game, I guess. Hit me up the next time you wanna get your ass kicked."

Gaping as Aominecchi casually strolled away, Ryouta felt a laugh bubble up in his chest. His rival could be so tsundere-like sometimes. Only he would substitute a proper thank you with an offer like that. Still, unable to resist, he called out, "Aominecchi! What are you going to do?"

"Hah?" Aominecchi glanced back, face drawn in his typical 'are you stupid' expression. "Whaddaya mean, what am I going to do? I'm gonna go home and call Tetsu of course."

With that he left, leaving Ryouta alone on the court, wondering how on Earth Kurokocchi was going to deal with that guy.

* * *

 **AN: Beh. Why does Kise have to use so many damn nicknames omfg. Anyway, opinions welcome as always! Thanks for reading :).**

 **\- Kelly**


	5. Chapter 5: Surprises

"Goddammit, Kuroko you bastard! Get that thing away from me!"

"That's not very nice, Kagami-kun. Nigou isn't a thing."

The monster barked as if in agreement.

Taiga cowered for a second, before gathering himself enough to scowl thunderously at his friend (with at least five feet between them, but still). "Stop sneaking up on people like that! And especially don't do it while holding your creepy little twin!"

Kuroko blinked placidly. "It's Kagami-kun's own fault," he said, bending over to put Nigou down. "He should be used to it by now."

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Taiga was just bracing himself to move past the dog and knuckle that blue head into oblivion when Kuroko's phone chimed. He paused, watching the shade of a smile pass over his shadow's face as he glanced at the screen. Taiga guessed it was probably one of the other Miracles; Kuroko's face only went soft like that when he was talking to/about his old friends.

He still wasn't too sold on those guys – they were a bunch of weirdos, if you asked Taiga – but now that Kuroko, together with Seirin, had knocked them all off their high horses, he guessed they were kind of tolerable. Maybe.

Okay not really; they made for amazing opponents on the basketball court, but off of it… the Kiseki no Sedai was a group of the most annoying personalities that Taiga had ever met in his life. The only way Taiga could handle being in the same space as any of them was if they had their handlers with them; Tatsuya, Takao, Kasamatsu, Momoi, etc. Although, Momoi was also kinda pushing it.

"Hm." Kuroko made a thoughtful little noise, typing something on his phone before pocketing it again. His face, even though it was as blank as ever, seemed pensive.

"Hey, are you okay?" Taiga asked, moving closer despite the tiny terror laying in wait at Kuroko's feet.

His shadow aimed his not-smile at him, pale blue eyes warming incrementally. "I am fine, Kagami-kun. Aomine-kun just wants to talk to me, and I can't think what it could be about."

Freaking _Aomine_.

Why was his most amazing opponent – something Taiga would never say aloud, for fear of the ganguro hearing and his fat head exploding – had to also be one of the biggest assholes on the planet was a mystery to Taiga. Why Kuroko liked him so much was an even bigger mystery. But, he guessed shared history just did that to people; Aomine and those damn Miracles were as firmly entrenched in Kuroko's heart as Tatsuya was in Taiga's.

"Are you gonna be alright?" He altered his previous question, resulting in an even warmer expression from Kuroko.

"I am sure I'll be fine, Kagami-kun. If Aomine-kun were angry or upset with me, I'm certain I would already know." The light amusement playing around Kuroko's mouth was enough to tell Taiga that his shadow was confident in his words. He shrugged, grabbing the basketball off the bench they had been standing next to all this time – because of _course_ they were on a streetball court; Kuroko had only just arrived with his devil-dog when he'd gotten the text from Aomine.

"Okay then," he said, grinning down at his shorter friend. "Just let me know if I need to kick that guy's ass, alright?"

* * *

Later that night, as Taiga was completing his nightly ritual of watching NBA highlights on YouTube, there was a knock on his door, soft enough that he almost disregarded it at first. But then it came again, a little harder, and Taiga swung his legs out of bed, brow furrowed in confusion. He pulled on a shirt and some sweatpants, annoyance settling in the line of his shoulders.

"Who the hell…" He muttered, making his way through his apartment on light feet. Not even bothering to look out the peep-hole, Taiga pulled the door open – and found Kuroko staring up at him, face _visibly distressed_ , fist still raised to knock.

"I-" Kuroko had barely made a sound before Taiga was tugging him inside, almost forgetting to close the door behind him in his haste. Manhandling the unusually pliant Kuroko onto the couch and draping the blanket he kept there around the smaller boy's shoulders (because _he wasn't wearing a jacket in the middle of fucking winter_ ), Taiga went straight to the kitchen, telling Kuroko "Wait there. Hot chocolate first."

He worked quickly, making two mugs full of warm, sugary goodness (it wasn't vanilla, but he figured his shadow would forgive him, just this once) and then settling next to the pale figure on his couch. It was hard to tell, since he'd been in such a rush, but Taiga didn't think Kuroko had moved an inch while he'd been in the kitchen. Shoving one of the mugs into those small _(strong, consistent, unwavering)_ hands, Taiga focussed all his attention on his friend. "What's wrong?" He asked bluntly, unfettered concern colouring his voice. "Did that Ahomine do something?"

It was instinct that made him ask the second question. He had nothing to support that suspicion but a single text from earlier in the day, but Taiga just inexplicably _knew_.

However, Kuroko did not respond to either question. He simply turned his head, gazing through Taiga with blue eyes blank in a way that was somehow worse than usual. "I apologise, Kagami-kun, for showing up so late with no warning," he said, tone utterly distant. "My feet just brought me here on their own."

Even Taiga was capable of reading between those lines; Kuroko had been wandering aimlessly and subconsciously went to his light for comfort. Or something. A ferocious blush lit up his cheeks at the implication of just how much Kuroko trusted him, and in his mind- _'fuck it'_.

One long arm stretched out behind the blue-haired boy and yanked him right into Taiga's side. Absolutely not allowing himself to acknowledge the embarrassment that was sweeping his body from head to toe, the red-head used his other hand to push Kuroko's face into his shoulder so that he wouldn't have to look into those (usually) all-seeing eyes. "It's okay, you idiot," he muttered gruffly. "Just tell me what happened so I know how hard I need to punch him."

The slender body under his arm shifted a little. Managing the barest sideways glimpse, Taiga caught one blue eye peeking at him through the gaps between his fingers and immediately faced forward again. "Kagami-kun." Kuroko's voice came out muffled, and he tugged lightly on the hem of Taiga's shirt. "Kagami-kun, please let go of my head."

Grumbling incoherently, Taiga did so with extreme reluctance. His other arm, however, stayed firmly put around his shadow's shoulders. Kuroko accepted this with a fond smile, which only made Taiga's blush worse. "D-don't look at me like that!" He blustered, more loudly than he'd intended. "Hurry up and tell me that I can go punch that annoying ganguro already!"

The blunet was laughing at him, Taiga could see it in his eyes. All he said though, was "That won't be necessary, Kagami-kun. I'm not upset-" "Bullshit." "I was just shocked." Kuroko jabbed him once in the ribs as retaliation for the interruption, but otherwise let it go.

"Shocked?" Taiga repeated dubiously. That was a pretty extreme reaction to be called mere _shock_. "Shocked about what?"

There was a moment of contemplative silence that had Taiga holding his breath for reasons unknown to him, and then –

"Aomine-kun confessed to me."

The deadpan delivery gave Taiga a second or two of pause, before something in his brain _clicked_ into place. _"HE WHAT?!"_

The subsequent shriek was deafening.

* * *

 **AN: As always, thoughts welcome!**

 **\- Kelly**


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